On September 18th, the Adrienne Arsht Center for Resilience convened a private, senior-level tabletop exercise in Newport, Rhode Island, to explore ways of better building resilience into our systems before the next disruption. The discussion, entitled SURGING SHORES and enabled by a simulation tool developed by Dutch digital infrastructure modeling company SIM-CI, elicited from participants their perspectives on policy and operational approaches aimed at improving resilience to natural hazards and manmade attacks. Participants included Navy Vice Admiral Mary Jackson; Major General Brian Callahan, The Adjutant General for Rhode Island; multiple members of the Newport, RI City Council; David Smith, former executive director of Rhode Island Emergency Management Agency; Rhode Island Homeland Security and Cyber Advisor, Mike Steinmetz; and Laura Favinger, chief administrative officer, Insurance Information Institute. Atlantic Council Board Directors Sherri Goodman and Frank Kramer played key roles in the discussion.

SURGING SHORES represented the latest step in building out the Center’s “Resilient-by-Design” concept, which aims to identify low-cost, high-impact ways of improving the ability of individuals, institutions, and infrastructure to withstand major shocks in an environment where not all disruptive events can be prevented.